Fury and Grace

By Niranjan Mudholkar,

Added 10 October 2014

Indigenisation, capacity building for larger production, meeting the production orders ahead of schedule and ensuring different variants of the flagship missile is what Sudhir Kumar Mishra, the MD & CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, wants to achieve during his tenure.

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Meeting the demand
Given India's volatile neighbourhood, it is imperative that the armed forces are well stocked with the appropriate arms and ammunitions. So, is BrahMos Aerospace able to meet the demand from the Indian armed forces in terms of its production capacities?

"Yes, BrahMos has been successful in meeting the requirements of the Indian armed forces pertaining to their delivery demands. We have excelled in delivering the missile to the services ahead of schedule which clearly highlights our production commitments and users' satisfaction."

The Indian Navy has currently deployed the missile system on almost all the frontline surface warships of the maritime force. The Indian Army, till date, has placed orders for BrahMos to be deployed in three of its regiments and two of them are already fully operational with the Army with orders for many more in the pipeline.

"We are enhancing our production capacity in Hyderabad, Nagpur and Pilani by developing further dedicated production lines and product support centres simultaneously," Mishra shares. Development work for the third production centre in Nagpur, which will be exclusively dedicated to the Air Version, is in progress. "We expect full-fledged production from this centre very soon."

Scope for exports
There has also been a demand for the BrahMos missile from other countries too given its extraordinary capabilities. The Inter-Governmental Agreement stipulates the use of this advanced missile system by the Indian and Russian Armed Forces as well as export to friendly countries.

Several South-East-Asian and Latin American countries have expressed their interest in the system, particularly for the naval and coastal defence versions. A definite list of such countries already exists. "We are progressing with our marketing strategy for exporting BrahMos to certain nations. We expect several export contracts to be signed with the nations friendly to both India and Russia in the near future. But the decision to export will be taken only after the approval of both Indian and Russian Governments."

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